On the heels of “Black Friday” and the shutdown of the three most popular sites in the online poker industry, there has been a rise in the number of “subscription” online poker sites. These sites are promoted as being 100% legal because, unlike their “pay to play” brethren, actual money is not on the table. But are these subscription sites the future of online poker in the United States or will players ignore them?
It was announced last week that Gold Strike Poker had switched its name to GoldRushPoker.net and entered into the subscription based model for American action. To promote the changeover, the new GoldRushPoker.net has aggressively marketed the site, buying national television and print ads on such popular television networks as GSN and Bravo. What the new GoldRushPoker.net seems to be doing is placing itself in line for when the U. S. government legalizes and regulates the online poker world.
“It’s not a question of if online poker will be legalized,” John George, the Chief Executive Officer of Gold Rush Poker, stated during the announcement. “It’s a question of when. We are the top choice for American players right now and we have made strategic alliances with several industry leaders to ensure GoldRushPoker.net will be a household name.”
But will these online subscription sites be the future of online poker in the United States, will they simply be a stopgap measure for American players who want to play poker or will the players ignore these sites in their entirety?
What separates the subscription sites away from the “normal” online poker sites is that there is no money actually on the table when people play. Players can play for free on the sites, with play money chips, to attempt to win prizes, making them, in essence, a sweepstakes, which is allowed by many states in the U. S. By paying a monthly fee – usually dressed up as being a “VIP” member of the site – players can get into more lucrative tournaments, where the larger prizes such as automobiles, seats in live tournaments and money are offered.
One of the most popular subscription poker rooms is ClubWPT, the online site operated by the World Poker Tour. On their website, ClubWPT touts their offerings as not being gambling because, “Gambling means you put something at risk (consideration) to play a game (like poker or blackjack) for a prize (like money). ClubWPT is not a gambling site because you join the “club” to get benefits like discounts on goods and services and the opportunity to play in tournaments for prizes. The tournaments are part of the club promotion. ClubWPT operates within the sweepstakes rules where they are legal and excludes people from joining who live in those states and countries where they are not.”
The prizes offered by ClubWPT are fairly lucrative for players. The site advertises that over $100,000 in cash and prizes are offered every month for its members for a monthly subscription of $19.95. One of the opportunities offered by ClubWPT is seats in their live tournaments around the world, which some may remember as how ClubWPT member LeRon Washington won the 2010 WPT Invitational after earning his seat in a ClubWPT qualifier.
At GoldRushPoker.net, the subscription model is expanded slightly. There are three tiers of VIP – Miner, Master Miner and Gold Miner – with the costs ranging from $19.95 to $29.95. Like ClubWPT, prizes are offered for “reward points” that are earned and there are cash tournaments that players can participate in. There are also valuable prizes at stake, such as a Corvette during one of their current promotions.
But are these subscription sites for the hardcore, multi-table grinder or for the casual player just looking for a game? The latter is the case as, without any actual money on the tables, multi-tabling is worthless for the hardcore player. For those that are just looking to pass some time, it offers a chance to play while ensuring that your monthly fee is the only money you’ll lose instead of dropping a mortgage check at the tables.
A close examination of the subscription site’s FAQs also reveals that certain areas of the country are not eligible to play at these sites because of their sweepstakes laws. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington are the states in the U. S. that are excluded from subscription poker rooms and residents from Quebec, Canada also are not eligible.
For those players who are fortunate enough to make a big score at one of the subscription sites, there are a few hoops to jump through as well. At ClubWPT, players must submit a valid ID before the prize will be released and, if a player wins a cash payout over $600 in a calendar year, then the player must submit a W9 tax form to the site and they issue a 1099, meaning that players will have to claim their winnings on their taxes for a given year.
While the options for Americans in the online poker world are dwindling, the subscription poker rooms are attempting to pick up some of those players looking for action. But the subscription model has been tried, with varying degrees of success, since the passage of the UIGEA in 2006. Whether they will now become a staple of the online poker industry is yet to be seen.
There are so many worthy poker rooms that people don’t know of or give a time of day due to lack of marketing. I used to only play on Fulltilt, but after Black Friday switched to strictly rakefree rooms. You save more by not paying the rake, and the players are much easier to beat than those from Fulltilt or Pokerstars. I am astonished by how many people don’t do their research. Rakefree is definitely worth trying